NEWCASTLE has one of the highest levels of fast food outlets in the UK, a survey has shown.

Research by the slimming group Weight Watchers has found that the city has a takeaway, cafe or coffee shop for every 1,146 people.

The study lists the top 20 “toxic cities” in the UK, whose high streets are fraught with danger for those battling to control their weight.

Newcastle alone has 226 fast food outlets and was recorded as the ninth city with the highest number of fast food joints per head.

Statistics from the Association of Public Health Observatories in 2010 showed the North East was the second fattest region in the European Union, after the West Midlands, with 28% of adults classed as obese – double the EU average.

And Gateshead was named as one of the fattest boroughs in the country by a national health survey in 2011. It was said to be one of only four places in England where more than 30% of adults are classed as obese.

The rest of Tyneside did not fare much better in the health profiles compiled for the Department of Health. North and South Tyneside were classed as having a “significantly worse” proportion of obese adults than the national average of 24.2%.